Retaking Towns Is Not the Same as Winning Tigray
Ethiopian federal forces now hold Mekelle and Adwa, and flights between Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan capital resumed on Sunday. The headline version suggests a quick federal success. The record of the past week is messier, and the 2020 war is a warning about what such victories are worth. The harder questions are who governs Tigray now, and whether Eritrea, once Addis Ababa's ally, is about to shape the outcome.